Paul Vallas continues to set the stage for a run against a formidable Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Vallas, who was appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner to help restart a financially beleaguered Chicago State University, tells Sneed he plans to step down from that job soon — a clear reminder of what he has done politically in the past: not hold a public job while running for public office.

“My job is done,” said Vallas. “Although my contract ran until July 1, I now plan to leave March 31,” he said while also repeating an earlier report by Crain’s Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz he was “seriously considering” running for mayor.

Trust me: The decision by Vallas to leave early is a huge indication he hopes to run for mayor.

Can we please add Paul Vallas to the list of tired names like Chris Kennedy, Bill Daley, Valerie Jarrett, etc., that are always touted as powerful, dream candidates who never pan out or live up to the hype.

Plus, Vallas’s financial stewardship of CPS looks nowhere near as good now as it did before the political world started paying attention to pension debt. I think the Chicago Teacher’s Pension Fund was close to 100 percent funded a couple of years into his tenure, then the holidays starting kicking in. Not all his fault, a lot of it was set by statute. But if he was the hands-on financial wizard the media liked to portray him as, you’d think he might have done something about it.

What’s his path? The two basic baths are progressive populist versus establishment, business-friendly and the mayor has the latter covered, while the former is not open to Vallas if he doesn’t get CTU backing, which seems unlikely.

Vallas may be the only person more despised then Rahm by the Teachers union. Had the CTU and IEA been able to overlook Vallas having been a school superintendent he would have been Governor in 2002 and we could have been spared both Blago and Quinn

CTU won’t back him, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. CTU getting behind a candidate is enough to scare off many backers/fundraisers who can’t imagine how the finances will end up with their leaders calling the shot.

Having a reasonable voice who isn’t full of unrealistic promises that will result in more taxes might end up being formidable.